Job Durfee
Job Durfee (September 20, 1790 – July 26, 1847) was an American poet, orator, politician, and jurist. Life Durfee was born at Tiverton, Rhode Island , the son of Mary (Lowden) (1753-1842) and Thomas Durfee (1759-1829). He graduated from Brown University in 1813, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Tiverton. He married Judith Borden (1793-1884), who bore him 7 children.Job Durfee (1790-1847), Ancestry.com. Web, Feb. 13, 2013. He was a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1816 to 1820, and was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the 17th Congress and was reelected as an Adams-Clay Republican to the 18th Congress, serving from March 4, 1821 to March 3, 1825. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1824 to the 19th Congress and for election in 1828 to the 21st Congress He was again a member of the State house of representatives from 1826 to 1829, serving as speaker from 1827 to 1829. He declined to be a candidate for reelection and resumed the practice of law. In 1833 he was elected associate justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. He was chief justice from June 1835 until his death in Tiverton in 1847. As chief justice, he presided over the trial of the last person executed in Rhode Island, John Gordon. Durfee's interment was in the family burying ground at Quaker Neck, near Tiverton. Writing Durfee was the author of What Cheer, a poem in nine cantos; of an oration, The Influences of Scientific Discovery and Invention on Social and Political Progress, or Roger Williams in Exile (1843), under the pseudonym "Theaptes;" and of a philosophical work in verse, entitled The Panidea (1846). Publications Poetry *''The Vision of Petrarch: A poem'' ("delivered before the United Brothers' Society of Brown University, on their anniversary, September 6, 1814"). Providence, RI: Miller, Goddard & Mann, 1814. *''What Cheer, or, Roger Williams in banishment: A poem. Providence, RI: Cranston & Hammond, 1832; 2nd edition, Providence, RI: Leeds, reprinted and sold by John Heaton, 1840; Providence, RI: Preston & Rounds, 1896. Prose *The Influence of Scientific Discovery and Invention on Social and Political Progress'' ("Oration delivered before the Phi beta kappa society of Brown University, Providence, R.I., on commencement day, September 6, 1843"). Providence, RI: Cranston, 1843.The influence of scientific discovery and invention on social and political progress. Oration delivered before the Phi beta kappa society of Brown University, Providence, R.I., on commencement day, September 6, 1843 (1843), Internet Archive. Web, Aug. 6, 2013. *''The Panidea: or, An omnipresent reason considered as the creative and sustaining logos'' (as "Theoptes"). Boston: Thomas H. Webb, 1846. *''A Discourse, delivered before the Rhode-Island Historical Society. Providence, RI: Charles Bernett, Jr., 1847.A discourse, delivered before the Rhode-Island Historical Society ... January 13, 1847. Published at the request of the Society (1847), Internet Archive. Web, Aug. 6, 2013. Collected editions * ''The Complete Works of the Hon. Job Durfee, LL.D., Late Chief Justice of Rhode-Island: With a memoir of the author.(edited and memoir by Thomas Durfee). Providence, RI: Gladding and Proud; Boston: Charles C. Little & James Brown, 1849. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy West Virginia UniversityJob Durfee (1790-1847), Strangers to Us All: Lawyers and poetry, College of Law, West Virginia University. Web, Aug. 6, 2013. See also *List of U.S. poets References * Complete Works of Job Durfee, with a Memoir of his Life (Providence, 1849), edited by his son * Gibson, Discourse on the Character and Writings of Chief Justice Durfee (Providence, 1848) Notes External links ;Poems *"Pawtucket Falls" (from What Cheer) ;About *Job Durfee at Infoplease.com. *Job Durfee (1790-1847) at Strangers to Us All: Lawyers and Poetry. ;Etc. *Durfee Family Papers at the Rhode Island Historical Society * Category:People from Tiverton, Rhode Island Category:1790 births Category:1847 deaths Category:Brown University alumni Category:Members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Rhode Island Category:American poets Category:Chief Justices of the Rhode Island Supreme Court Category:Rhode Island Democratic-Republicans Category:19th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets